The Women's Podcast

Author and podcaster Caroline Foran took the world by storm in 2016 with the release of her best selling self-help book, Owning It: Your Bullsh*t-Free Guide to Living with Anxiety. Now, she’s back with her third book Naked: Ten Truths to Change Your Life, which challenges readers to explore, embrace and expose their vulnerability. From realising that you’ll never really have it all figured out to accepting that someone else’s success doesn’t take from yours, the truths featured in this practical guide will help produce positive change in your life. In today’s episode, Foran sits down with Róisín Ingle to discuss the power of your own vulnerability, how to deal with imposter syndrome and what life is like as a new mother in the middle of a pandemic.

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In our first book club of 2021, Róisín, Ann Ingle, Bernice Harrison and Niamh Towey discuss Untamed, a memoir by American author Glennon Doyle. This is Doyle’s third memoir, which follows on from her two previous best sellers, Love Warrior and Carry On, Warrior. Untamed is the story of how Doyle left her troublesome marriage, fell head over heels in love with soccer star Abby Wambach, found her inner voice and eventually learned how to stop pleasing and start living. The book has garnered many famous fans all over the world, with the singer Adele announcing to her 39 million Instagram followers that “this book will shake your brain and make your soul scream. I am so ready for myself after reading this!” So, is this the perfect ‘New Year, New You’ guide to motivate you through January? Let’s see what our book clubbers have to say.

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If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that the future is never certain. But with a number of vaccines against Covid-19 on the way, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Last year we learned how to live in a pandemic, somehow managing to keep the show on the road in ways we never thought were possible before. We learned that, for many of us, working from home is possible. We found ways to keep in touch with friends and family, even though we couldn’t physically be with them. We got used to wearing masks and keeping our distance. How much of this will we have to carry through this year? What does our ‘new normal’ look like in 2021? What can we look forward to? To discuss this, and more, Kathy Sheridan is joined once again by Irish Times journalists Jennifer O’Connell and Kitty Holland, and performance artist, poet and writer, Felicia Olusanya, to look ahead to what’s in store this year.

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At the start of 2020, as we began a new decade, we were caught up with news stories about the Australian bushfires, the seemingly never-ending Brexit talks, a then-looming Irish general election, and students from 72 schools around the country began opening time capsules sealed in 1996 containing their hopes and dreams for 2020. How many of them could have guessed what lay ahead?Bubbling away in the background, further down the news agenda here, the World Health Organisation was dealing with the emergence of a ‘novel coronavirus’ in Wuhan, China, a disease that would dramatically change our lives.Covid-19 is the prism through which 2020 will forever be viewed and while it has swept across the world devastating communities, killing millions and bringing the world’s economies to their knees, life has somehow carried on.In today’s podcast Kathy Sheridan is joined by Irish Times journalists Jennifer O’Connell and Kitty Holland, and performance artist, poet and writer, Felicia Olusanya to take a look back at the year gone by.Stay tuned to the end for a performance by Felicia of her beautiful pandemic poem, Still.

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The time has finally come to say goodbye to 2020. But before we bid adieu to the longest year on record, we want to take you on a journey back through the last twelve months of The Women’s Podcast. The year 2020 will not just be remembered for the pandemic, it will also be remembered for the global Black Lives Matter movement, the historic US election result and the scandal around the sealing of the Irish Mother and Baby Home records. Róisín Ingle brings you a selection of these highlights including a conversation with Sinead O’Connor who spoke to us from her cabin in the garden, a touching interview with Dr Catherine Motherway, Intensive Care Consultant at University Hospital Limerick and a snippet from our lockdown inspired series, The Big Night In with playwright and actor Olwen Fouéré. And of course, amongst all of that, there’s not one, but two highlights from our Summer episodes on Normal People. Here’s a link to each episode mentioned in today’s podcast:Ep 387 Sinead O’Connor https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-386-sinead-oconnor-rosemary-smithEp 392 Catherine Motherwayhttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-392-frontline-women-domestic-abuse-pandemicEp 392 Domestic Abuse Pandemichttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-392-frontline-women-domestic-abuse-pandemicEp 395 Mary Lou McDonaldhttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-395-mary-lou-mcdonaldEp 397 Normal People https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-397-normal-peopleEp 405 Normal People’s Ita O’Brienhttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-405-normal-peoples-ita-obrien-on-how-to-make-great-tv-sexEp 406 How to be anti- racist (Black Lives Matter)https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-406-black-lives-matter-racism-in-ireland-and-beyondEp 411 Big Night In - Olwen Fouéréhttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-411-big-night-in-with-olwen-fouereEp 423 Fat Cow, Fat Chance - Jenni Murrayhttps://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-423-fat-cow-fat-chanceEp 441 Sealing the Records https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-441-releasing-the-records-maeve-orourke-mary-harneyEp 446 US Election 2020https://soundcloud.com/irishtimes-women/ep-446-us-election-2020-is-it-really-time-to-celebrate

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In this special festive episode, we’re bringing you a story written by Maeve Binchy, first published in The Irish Times on Saturday, December 29th, 1984. Read by Róisín Ingle, the story captures the beautiful ordinariness of everyday life, the fuss and excitement of the holidays and the place of a woman at the head of her family. With true emotional tugs and important lessons to be learned, we hope this story offers you some solace this pandemic Christmas eve. So sit back, relax, wrap some presents or venture out for a walk, whatever you do, enjoy Season of Fuss by the brilliant Maeve Binchy. Merry Christmas.

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Emma Gannon is a writer, broadcaster and podcaster who is best known for her podcast Ctrl Alt Delete and Sunday Times Bestselling business book The Multi-Hyphen Method. In 2020 she published her debut novel, Olive, in which she explores the lives of four female friends whose paths diverge after a close-knit college experience. The book’s protagonist is the titular Olive, whose first-person narrative focuses on her decision to not have a baby, or to be childfree by choice. It’s a timely theme and Olive has garnered high praise from the likes of Marian Keyes, no stranger to tackling meaty themes in relatable ways in her own books. In this episode, Emma chats to Róisín about the book, how she researched the theme of women choosing to be childfree and what the reaction to it has been like.Also in this episode: Highlights from the final event in our second season of the Big Night In with the broadcaster Olivia O’Leary.

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Over the past year, the sale of puppies in Ireland has increased by over 200%. It’s no surprise that during these difficult times with lockdown restrictions still in place, people have opened their hearts and homes to new four-legged friends. However, many do not realise that by buying dogs online, they could be unknowingly contributing to Ireland’s illegal puppy trade. In today’s episode, Róisín Ingle is joined by model, artist and DSPCA ambassador Thalia Heffernan for an eye opening and important discussion on the reality of Ireland’s puppy farms. In recent weeks, the model has begun using her Instagram platform to warn against the online purchase of dogs and to educate people on the horrible reality of life for a breeding dog, forced to churn out litter after litter. Now, as animal shelters brace themselves for the inevitable influx of unwanted dogs in the new year, Thalia is playing her part by donating proceeds of her artwork to the DSPCA. You can follow @ThaliaHeffernan on Instagram for more details. But first, as part of our ongoing #ShopLocal spotlight, Róisín spoke to Bebhinn Flood, owner of The Design House in Temple Bar and Greystones Co. Wicklow. It’s a creative space with features a designer boutique alongside a beauty hub, with the ethos being to support and nurture Irish creators and small Irish businesses. See TheDesignShop.ie

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We’ve reassembled our book club one last time before we bid adieu to 2020, to have a chat about the books they got lost in this year. Ann Ingle, Niamh Towey and Bernice Harrison join Róisín to recommend some great reads that you might consider gifting to your nearest and dearest this Christmas and to drop a few not-so-subtle hints about the books they hope to find under the tree for themselves on December 25th. Ireland’s booksellers have played a blinder throughout this pandemic, going to great lengths to get books to their customers despite a really challenging trading environment. With that in mind, please do your best to shop locally this Christmas and help to make sure our independent bookshops survive Covid-19 too.Books mentioned today:1.Irish Country Furniture and Furnishings 1700-2000, by Claudia Kinmonth2.A Promised Land, by Barack Obama 3.The Searcher, by Tana French 4.Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen5.The Lying Life of Adults, by Elena Ferrante6.Fat Cow, Fat Chance by Jenni Murray7.Queenie, by Candice Carty Williams8.Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch9.Exciting Times, by Naoise Dolan10.32 words for Field, by Manchan Mangan11. Tennis Lessons, Susannah Dickey12. More Than a Woman, Caitlin Moran13. A Ghost in the Throat, by Doireann Ni Ghríofa

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In 2020, Irish musician Sharon Shannon was due to travel the world celebrating her 30th anniversary in the music industry. However, Covid as we know, scuppered everyone's plans. Making the most of her time in lockdown, the Clare native, set about writing and recording a brand new album called The Reckoning. It features over a dozen remote collaborations from artists in locations across the globe. In this conversation, Shannon tells Róisín Ingle all about this new found creative energy, which as well as writing a brand new album, also inspired her to pick up the electric guitar and completely redecorate her house. Surrounded by her two dogs and a sleeping cat called Lucy, the pair discuss the healing power of music and the much anticipated return of spontaneity.

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